Arrival at the Edge
The storm above the Forbidden City churned like a furious god. Winds howled as dark clouds twisted into endless spirals above the jagged cliffs. Lightning forked downward but never struck the ground, as if frozen in time.
Li Wei and the girls stood at the threshold—no gate, no wall, only a shimmer in the air where the mountain's peak met an invisible veil. The Forbidden City hovered beyond it, floating in defiance of gravity and reality, its towers tangled in chains of light and shadow.
Each heartbeat echoed louder here. Each breath tasted ancient.
SYSTEM WARNING: Dimensional Convergence Approaching.Soul Resonance Link: Stable.Event Triggered: TRIAL OF THE FIRST GUARDIAN
"Everyone ready?" Li Wei asked, voice steady.
Yue nodded, drawing a blade of crystalline ice. "We've come too far to falter now."
Meiyu formed her illusion sigils. "Let's see what secrets this city wants to hide."
Lana rolled her shoulders, flames licking her skin. "I've been itching for a real fight."
Lotus floated slightly off the ground, petals circling her. "The energy here is... sacred. But broken."
Shen Ruo's calm voice followed. "We must tread carefully."
Scarlet said nothing—but her bone coffin began to hum, vibrating with power.
The Veil Breaks
Li Wei stepped through the invisible wall.
Reality shifted.
A blast of force knocked them back, sending dust spiraling into the wind. The ground beneath their feet fractured in a perfect circle, forming a ritual arena of ancient stone etched with unfamiliar sigils.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:Welcome to the Threshold.Guardian Trial Initialized.All exits sealed. Combat locked. Soul-Link stabilized. Failure = Memory Collapse.
Before them, the stone altar cracked open—and from its depths emerged a towering figure of armor and light.
The First Guardian.
He was ten feet tall, adorned in broken divine plate fused with obsidian vines. His face was masked, but eyes burned like twin suns. In his hand he held a spear made of collapsing stars.
"State your purpose," the Guardian boomed.
Li Wei stood firm. "To enter the Forbidden City—and to learn the truth."
"Then face the trial of memory. Show me your resolve, bonded soul."
Battle Initiation: Soul vs. Legacy
The First Guardian struck without warning.
His spear lashed out, splitting the air with a thunderous screech. Li Wei blocked it just in time with an energy-forged gauntlet. The impact sent shockwaves across the plateau.
Yue and Lana flanked right, Scarlet and Shen Ruo left, Meiyu and Lotus moving to intercept from the air. Soul Resonance activated automatically.
SOUL COMBINATION UNLOCKED: Dual Trait Fusion — Flame + IceNEW SKILL: Thermo Fracture (Lv.1)
Yue and Lana launched an intertwined attack—Lana's flame spiral froze mid-air as Yue shattered it into a thousand burning shards.
The Guardian raised his arm, deflecting all but a few. A glancing blow burned his shoulder.
"Impressive," he said. "But not enough."
Pressure Mounts
The Guardian teleported mid-blink, appearing behind Lotus. She spun, petals shielding her—but the spear pierced through.
"Lotus!" Li Wei shouted.
She crashed to the ground, coughing blood. Shen Ruo knelt beside her, activating healing sigils.
Meanwhile, Meiyu multiplied herself into a dozen versions, trying to confuse the enemy. The Guardian swatted them aside like flies—until one real Meiyu struck from behind with a blade of pure illusion.
The Guardian turned slowly. "Clever girl."
He stabbed her through the shoulder before she could dodge.
Meiyu collapsed, groaning.
"Too fast," Shen Ruo whispered.
"We're not out yet," Li Wei growled. "Girls—link everything."
WARNING: Forced Synchronization EngagedRISK: Emotional Feedback Loop PossibleGAIN: Power Multiplier x3.5
Shared Pain – Shared Strength
Li Wei activated full Soul Resonance. His veins glowed blue-white, and arcs of power surged from him into each girl.
But with it came their pain.
He felt Yue's long-buried self-hatred. Lana's guilt. Lotus's sadness. Scarlet's emptiness. Shen Ruo's quiet fear of failing them. Meiyu's isolation.
And they, in turn, felt his crushing pressure—the fear of losing them, the imposter syndrome, the constant fight against his own unworthiness.
But none turned away.
Instead, they embraced the pain.
And their powers fused.
Final Clash – Breaking the Mask
The group launched a coordinated assault. Each girl's technique evolved mid-strike.
Yue's Blizzard Fang transformed into Frozen Heartstorm, freezing time for a moment.
Lana's Dragonfire Barrage became Phoenix Spiral, wrapping her in flame wings.
Lotus's petal defense turned into Blooming Blade Dance, slashing with light itself.
Meiyu's illusions gained voices—Mirage Choir, confusing both sight and sound.
Shen Ruo's sigils expanded into full-on barriers that reflected incoming energy.
Scarlet's coffin opened entirely—releasing a skeletal phoenix made of cursed bone.
Together with Li Wei's full-body martial energy enhancement—Celestial Limit Form—they struck the Guardian all at once.
The spear shattered.
His mask cracked, revealing a weary, handsome face beneath—eyes old with memory.
"...You pass."
Memory Transfer
The battlefield dissolved. Light poured into Li Wei's body as the Guardian's memories bled into him.
SYSTEM CORE MEMORY UNLOCKED
Images.
Seven wielders, long ago, chosen by a being called The Architect. They were lovers, warriors, rivals. They unlocked the 999-Level System together.
Until betrayal fractured them.
One killed the others to absorb their links.
Only one survived—barely. The system shattered. Fragmented.
That survivor? The Guardian.
"I stayed here to ensure no fool ever took this path lightly," the Guardian whispered as he faded. "You are not fools... but your trial is far from over."
Gate Opens
The wind howled as the veil shattered.
The Forbidden City's true gates—enormous and golden, engraved with spiraling flame-script—opened slowly.
A voice, not from the system but from deep within Li Wei's soul, spoke:
"You are one step closer to truth. But truth breaks before it heals."
The Forbidden City — Entry
The doors of the Forbidden City finished opening with a deep, earth-shaking groan.
Inside was not a city in the traditional sense, but a landscape of floating islands—each suspended in a starlit void. Bridges of light connected the platforms, some crumbling, others restored. Ancient temples floated upside down. Black suns hung overhead, frozen mid-collapse.
The girls stood behind Li Wei, weapons drawn, hearts guarded.
SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT:Welcome, Soul-Bound Wielder.WARNING: Memory Terrain Detected.All thoughts, regrets, and desires will influence the shape of this city.
Shen Ruo blinked. "Wait... our thoughts shape the space?"
Lotus nodded slowly, "Then this place is more than a relic. It's a mirror."
The Path of the First Wielder
As they crossed the first bridge, it reshaped itself beneath their feet. Marble turned to ash, then into polished obsidian engraved with Li Wei's name, followed by Yue's, Lana's, and the rest.
Then came another trial—this one not of combat, but memory.
The system pulled them into a shared dreamscape. Each of the girls was separated and made to walk a path alone.
Yue's Trial: Frozen Past
She found herself in her childhood village, watching her younger self shunned by villagers for her strange powers. The wind whispered: "You're a monster."
But this time, Li Wei was there, stepping through the illusion.
"You're not alone," he said. "Not anymore."
Her trial ended in a snowfall that melted in warmth.
Meiyu's Trial: The Empty Stage
She stood alone in a theater of illusions—her clones mocking her, repeating: "You're a shadow of others. A trick."
She knelt—until Scarlet's voice cut through: "Illusion or not, you stood with us. That's real."
Her hand found strength again.
Lana's Trial: Battle Without End
She fought an endless tide of shadow warriors, her flames flickering low. "You bring destruction," the shadows said. "You can't protect anyone."
But this time, Shen Ruo stepped beside her, lighting sigils that amplified her flames.
"We protect each other," she said.
Lotus's Trial: The Silent Bloom
She walked through a garden of dying petals. Her mother's voice echoed: "You should have never trained. You were born to serve, not lead."
Lotus wept—until Yue appeared, taking her hand and summoning a blizzard of blooming snow-lilies.
"You were born to rise," Yue whispered.
Scarlet's Trial: The Bone Prison
Scarlet stood in a pit surrounded by skeletons—the victims of her old powers.
"You kill everything you touch," they chanted.
But this time, Meiyu embraced her, whispering, "You gave your pain a purpose. You protect, not destroy."
Scarlet cried for the first time.
Shen Ruo's Trial: The Quiet Shadow
She was invisible in a monastery, ignored, overlooked. Her voice unheard.
But Lana appeared and threw a flaming fist into a temple wall. "If they don't hear you, make them listen."
Shen Ruo smiled, and her aura expanded until the whole space shimmered.
Li Wei's Trial: The Past Unlived
He faced his younger self—alone, broken, humiliated, mocked.
"You'll never be enough."
But then, each girl appeared, one by one, surrounding him.
"You already are," Lotus whispered.
"You don't need to prove anything," said Yue.
"We chose you," said Meiyu.
"Don't doubt it," said Lana.
"We're with you," said Shen Ruo.
Scarlet stood last. "And we're not going anywhere."
Return to Reality — A Stronger Bond
As the dreamscape shattered, they returned to the real city.
SYSTEM UPDATE:Soul Resonance Enhanced – Emotional Pathway Stabilized.New Skill Unlocked: Bonded Will – Unity Overdrive (Ultimate Technique)
Each of their auras pulsed in perfect synchronization. Their eyes met—this time with no shame, no fear. Just connection.
New Enemy Observes
Far above them, on one of the floating towers, a shadow watched. A man in a silver-black robe, hair white as snow, eyes hollow.
Beside him knelt a woman—dark-haired, wrapped in serpents of qi.
"So... the Soul-Bound Wielder is real," the man said.
"The cycle begins again," the woman replied.
"Send word to the Inner Sect. Phase Two begins now."
The Garden of Broken Time
The group continued their journey, eventually arriving at a floating garden where time behaved strangely—flowers bloomed and died in seconds, rain reversed, and shadows bent backward.
In the garden's center stood a crystal obelisk.
SYSTEM: Touch to unlock Ancient Path Memory
Li Wei approached and placed his hand upon it.
Suddenly, the air shimmered.
They saw the original Seven Wielders—one of whom looked eerily like Li Wei, laughing with six women of immense power.
"That's... us," Yue said, stunned.
"They were lovers. Warriors. Then one betrayed the others," Lotus added quietly.
MEMORY END: SYSTEM WIELDER'S SOUL IS A RECURRING CYCLEYOU ARE THE NEXT ITERATION
Li Wei stepped back, shaken.
"I'm... repeating someone's fate."
Scarlet grasped his arm tightly. "Then we break the cycle."
Final Scene: The Kiss of Promise
That night, as they camped within the city ruins, the air calm for once, Li Wei sat beside the small flame they built.
Yue came to him first. "You keep everyone going. Let us carry you sometimes too."
He opened his arms and she fell into them.
Then Meiyu sat behind him, resting her head on his shoulder. Lana, leaning into his other side.
Lotus knelt before him, gently brushing his cheek with her fingers. "You've changed everything."
Shen Ruo smiled, arms wrapped loosely around his back.
Scarlet stood last—silent, watching. Then she knelt down and kissed him softly, without a word.
For a moment, the system didn't speak.
The stars above flickered in silence.
But then...
SOUL HAREM PHASE III INITIATEDUNLOCKING FINAL LINK PATHWAY…QUEST UNLOCKED: Return to the Architect's Core